As I gazed down the hall and saw the two of them sitting there eating in silence, a sense of calm came over me. They were fine.
This, Hunter and I, whatever was happening, it was fine. It wasn’t something that could be explained, and it didn’t have to be. It was what it was and there was nothing that anyone or anything could do to stop it. I realized just as I had from the moment we first touched that I was not in control of anything. I was just getting better at accepting it.
Love is a strange thing. It doesn’t always make sense. In fact, it rarely makes sense at all. It’s something you feel, in your heart, not something that makes sense in your head. Was Hunter a violent criminal? Yes. Was he a dangerous bet for a girl like me? Definitely.
But did any of that matter? No.
Because love doesn’t explain itself. It doesn’t owe the world justifications. It just is. And once there’s love, real love, all the shitty circumstances in the world can’t do a thing to stop it.
“Grace, I don’t have an answer for you.”
I stood in front of her with my arms crossed and didn’t say anything more.
She stopped pulling off the bedding and looked up at me, shaking her head.
“Kelly. I want you to listen to me. I know things have been hard for you. You had to grow up awfully fast, and it wasn’t an easy ride. But, baby, you don’t have to make things even more difficult for yourself. That man in there is bad news. I knew it from the moment he walked into the diner. What he did to those two men, I can’t even bring myself to say it.”
“You mean, when he stopped them from raping me?” I said back.
I had never spoken like this to Grace in my life and it felt horrible. I felt like I was challenging everything she stood for. It felt like I was throwing back in her face, all the kind things she’d done over the years for me and Luke. She looked back at me and let out a deep sigh.
“Yes, that may be true. But he didn’t just stop them, my dear. He nearly beat them to death. And I don’t see any remorse, do you? I know not to judge a book by its cover, but look at him, Kelly? Is that what a respectable man looks like? Covered in tattoos, reeking of whiskey first thing in the morning? Is that who you want to spend your time with? Is that who you want Lucas to spend time with? How does this end well for you? He’s only going to hurt you, baby.”
I looked back at Hunter as he sat with Luke. His hair draped perfectly across his face. His strong jaw moved up and down as he chewed his food. The way his arm rippled every time he dug his fork into his plate sent shivers down my spine. More than that, the way Lucas didn’t seem to be afraid of him, that said something. It was the same with me. I wasn’t afraid of him. They call that instinct, and in my experience, it’s usually correct.
Was Hunter bad news? In theory, yes. He was capable of awful things and had done every lowdown deed one could think of at some point in his life. He hurt people, a lot of people. But what I found out in the last twenty-four hours was that he could never hurt me. He could try, but he would always stop himself before doing it. We were connected in a raw, animal way that somehow spoke to his violent, messed up nature. He had claimed me now. That might not mean much to a more civilized, standard type of guy, but to a man like Hunter, that meant everything. I was his, and he knew it. There was no escape for me and I didn’t want there to be. He was the only man I could ever love, and somehow, I knew it. It wasn’t just a crush. It wasn’t just in my head. It was real. I knew it. Hunter knew it. And soon enough, Grace would know it. This was my life, not Grace’s life, and it was my job to make the difficult decisions. That was one thing I’d learned losing my parents so young. Life wasn’t something that just flowed along calmly, like a lullaby. Life was real. Shit was real. And if you didn’t take what you wanted and make it happen, it wouldn’t happen, and you would be left with nothing.
My life and Hunter’s life were forever going to be one, but only if I had the strength to make sure that happened. It would mean a rocky road, but having him there by my side meant that everything would be better in the end. It was in my power to make it happen, or it was in my power to let all that die. And I knew which road I had to take.
“That is what a man looks like, Grace,” I said plainly as I stared out at him. “Honesty, integrity, strength, is that not what makes a man?”
For all the bad in him, I knew that at his core, Hunter stood for everything a man should be. Unapologetic power, in every sense of what that meant. Good and bad, he was both at the same time, and it was everything a man should be.